https://sites.google.com/feeds/content/assistnz.com/hub2018-03-20T03:50:07.004ZPosts of HomeGoogle Sites1https://sites.google.com/feeds/content/assistnz.com/hub/67886600168369998352011-08-07T08:59:58.216Z2011-08-07T09:06:25.279Z2011-08-07T09:06:25.277ZPrincliples of Social Media in real life...

Old Models & Traditions verses the new 3.0 version...? Which would you back? As ultimately, one will kill off the other.

The reality is one will
choke or overtake the other; if your policies on social media are too
restrictive or have too many layers of complexity, your staff will be
too intimidate and unsure to contribute the kind of social content which
your buisness can leverage on. Alternatively, if your not wanting thier
help, in which case you obviously are chosing to not be an active
Considering social media appears to be a contast + main stay of the
future, which will you be backing...

Jess Maherjess@assistnz.comprincliplesofsocialmediainreallife2https://sites.google.com/feeds/content/assistnz.com/hub/54466335264584333562011-06-22T06:23:11.147Z2011-06-22T06:33:05.753Z2011-06-22T06:33:05.719ZJess made the front page of the local rag! Talking about SweetAsSocialMedia.com

Fighting cyber bullies

SPEAK OUT: Jess Maher is trying to change people's attitudes to cyberbullying through her charity Sweet As Social Media.

The death of her father got Jess Maher looking into the darker side of social media.

Miss Maher became frustrated at not being able to control the online profile of her late dad, former Vodafone chief executive Grahame Maher.

She soon became interested in what people's rights are online.

"I realised that we don't have any digital rights. After I reported dad's death to Facebook and memorialised his page, they deleted every post he'd ever made."

Now the 27-year-old Massey resident is trying to help young people combat cyberbullying through her charity Sweet As Social Media.

"John Key has said that schools need to fight bullying. But schools can only help between 9am and 3pm. What about outside of those hours?" she says.

Kelston Boys High School principal Brian Evans says schools do their utmost to prevent all forms of bullying including making regular checks on Facebook and Youtube.

"But when it comes down to contact between individuals it's difficult to control," he says.

Miss Maher says young people spend a large proportion of their time in the digital world talking to each other by text messages or on the internet.

The bad behaviour that might once have occurred face to face is happening online or by text.

Miss Maher says parents who are not IT savvy may have no idea what their children are doing. She wants people to start taking what happens in the digital world seriously.

"Our attitudes need to change – we need to educate people. I think we need to teach kids about good behaviour online. When a child records a fight between two children and puts it on the internet, we ask why they were fighting. We should also ask `why did a child think it was okay to record it and put it online?"'

Miss Maher is using the places young people gather outside of school hours, such as Zeal recreation centre in Henderson, to get her message out.

Sweet As Social Media set up a You Tube booth at Massey Community House last month.

The idea was to give young people who don't have access to the internet at home the chance to record their thoughts about preventing cyberbullying and put their videos online.

The charity is also creating a free online magazine that will give parents information about how they can protect their children from cyberbullying and encourage good behaviour online.

"We're going to have a launch event on July 7, which would have been dad's birthday.

Sponsored links

You are wasting your time, you can't control peoples interaction with each other without implementing censorship. You wouldn't want to be responsible for that. Anon would be angry.

Yvonne Godfrey #1 03:29 pm Jun 21 2011

Well done Jess! You are filling a huge integrity gap that is being created online. Keep up the great work!

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First Event & our Launch of the “YouTube Booth” went off this afternoon! We experienced a few glitches, which is to be expected in any “first” really, including missing a lot of a school traffic with a late set up but we still managed to engage a few of the local kids in the community, with roughly 5 or 6 of them starting from start to end… Above you can see the play list of all the footage from the arvo… a lot of people don’t seem to like the camera it appears, including one of the Reb Bull girls which shocked us a little, but props to her for getting in front of the camera anyway! Unfortunately the sound on Mr Whippy’s is no good as our web cam did not like the wind! Paula Bennett, who did not seem to like the booth too much for some reason, was nice enough to record a clip for us anyway but we are struggling to get it up as we had to do it on Jess’ phone instead!

Thanks to all that come along in support and especially to those who were game enough to jump in our Youtube Booth for us and help us share the message and thanks especially to Chade from Sports Waitakere, Skylar from ICE box, Jane from Massey Community Center, Sam from Diesel Phoenix, Richard from Mr Whippy, the Red Bull girls (sorry didn’t get your names!), the team from PDF2Print, Mike from Burger Fuel Lincoln Road, Andy from Social Safe & Minister Paula Bennett for stopping in..

And last but by no means least, massive thanks to Kristi, the “Twirls”; Jude, Anthony & Alanna; Terence & Kelly-Ann; GJ; Matt East & Sir Peter Leitch (Mad Butcher) and anyone else who we may have forgotten to thank here!

__________________________________________________________

WHAT DID WE LEARN FROM THIS EVENT LAUNCH

We had our launch event, trial run for our “YouTube Booth” and Youth Week ‘Celebrate Technology’ event on Friday 27th May. We had the Wii projecting games onto the Community Hall wall, the YouTube Booth in the side room, Sam from Diesel Phoenix brought down his guitar and treated us to some acoustic and Mr Whippy and the Red Bull Girls came down in support and even did a video for us each!! But as with all “firsts”, the lessons and mistakes give considerable opportunity for learning! Heres some of ours…

Always give the printers a time estimate that is before the time required as a absolute cut off!*

Young girls were much more willing than teenager or younger boys…

Always have your projector going! It makes all the difference for kids to then get to see themselves on the channel instantly.

Different people would prefer the booth over talking face to camera with nothing to hide behind! Others would prefer having costumes and props helpful to getting in front of the camera…

The whole script is too long for people to read the whole thing through at events, the call out cards should be used instead with different filler lines… The kids seemed to prefer the ones that posed a question, like the ‘bystanders can make all the difference, will you?’

The Introduction aspect needs to be made explicit, only a few people introduced themselves…

More interaction with thier stories and content, need to explicitly ask questions maybe, even have cue cards for booth operator?

*we had a wee glitch with the printers, whereby having only one car at the moment, James did the mission to pick up last minute requirements, including the data stick and posters and was held up waiting for the last of them, at which time, while he was stuck in traffic- Jess franticly tried to find another way to get to the community center as the 3pm mark got closer and closer… in the end, we probably missed a fair majority of the major school rush of kids as we were not set up enough to capture the main rush of them, however, in our busiest moments, we were rather inundated so it was fairly clear we needed more “booth operator support” and also potentially another recording device to interact with people not wanting to go into the booth so much.. capture some of the gold in the “saw dust” of prior conversations where we were often engaging people in the concepts but not able to draw them in front of the camera…

The posters where very professionally done however, in our mad panic setup unfortunately a few are now worse for wear due to inappropriate tape usage etc, but overall we were rather impressed… You can see the shots of our promos flyers and posters etc up in the new temporary office/studio space shortly…

We held our first ever community workshop, tonight focusing on Digital Parenting and Kids using Social Media at Massey Community House (19th May 630-830pm). We had anticipated a struggle with achieving considerable attendance in numbers as per the reports we had heard and been told by others trying to mobilize projects in this area, despite their best intentions, parents seem to be very unsure, potentially rather overwhelmed and otherwise, rather inactive in their parenting roles with kids today when it relates to an online forum particularly.

With a number of different takes on the main issues and risks facing kids today in our ever increasingly connected & digital worlds, the issues of primary concern for parents can be overwhelming and confusing for many parents. In discussions tonight, the primary risks and issues revolved around the following;

- cyber bullying and the conduct and manner in which many websites seems to support & facilitate these behaviors

- "sexting" and the issue and relevance of mobile phones when it comes to digital issues

- digital rights and the ramifications of entering into contracts with a click (not actively considering terms & conditions)

- the balance between empowering kids to give them freedom online and moinitoring/tracking usage to ensure responsible & safe usage

- the challenge of being able to get parents to appreciate the need to proactively address these issues and considering that their kids could be at risk BEFORE getting into a position where they need to respond to a problem

- the way to best disseminate knowledge to parents, and how to get the message out there to be listened to by parents

- the lack of confidence of many parents to feel empower to influence or manage their kids behavior online when they don't feel they understand what their kids are doing on there anyway

- the danger of empowering and engaging kids with these technologies when the risk of parents "removing access" means that kids are not sharing these issues or problems with their parents when they do occur

- how the best way is to tackle these kind of issues & problems reoccurring throughout NZ in a proactive and positive way rather than "ambulance at the bottom of the cliff" mentality & the personal involvement impact

- how to overcome the reluctance and misconceptions of the essence of "social media" itself & why it may relate to them

Jess Maherjess@assistnz.comcommunitycourseparentinginadigitalworld1952011-asummaryreview2https://sites.google.com/feeds/content/assistnz.com/hub/12280949704244389162011-05-04T21:18:23.161Z2011-05-06T03:37:52.765Z2011-05-06T03:37:52.761ZParenting in the Digital World: Kids & Social Media

With 98% of Kiwi Schools having internet access and iGovt launched last year, the digital world is now so integrated & embedded in our societies that it is being becoming more difficult to imagine our lives without technology. For those of us who can remember the fear and threat of the "Y2K Bug", the last decade has shown us rapid and exponential growth in online technologies. Not only are our virtual realities now a part of our daily lives, but they have fundamentally and radically changed them. Today, we have got the point where reports state that one in four kids have an "online presence" before they are born.

Its still largely a "wild west" online and kids remain squarely in the firing line. They are acutely aware they know much more about these technologies than any identifiable authority figure and reports show less than 50% of households appear to define or set any kind of rules around internet use. Of those parents who do set rules, it is reported only 20% of them actually try to enforce them.

Working in this area for clients our...selves, we found many unanswered questions & issues, some scary & concerning behaviour & approaches of youth using digital technologies, schools in our opinion largely falling short of the responsibilities of them in such cases and the parents having no idea.

We will provide an overview of the existing support and resources avaliable to parents & caregivers to protect thier kids online and briefly explore some of our favourites. Provide an overview of the main concerns for parents & commonly experienced traps of youth by sharing some of our own experiences. Providing "take home" resources and guides to Family Security & Saftey online and enable discussions to focus on areas of concern or contention among attendants. Finally we will work together to draft relevant "house rules" or guidelines to attempt to iniate ongoing conversations between parents & children as in this case especially, "prevention is the best cure".

Our first Sweet As Social Media Community Course is coming up on the 19th of May from 630pm-8pm at Massey Community House (the old library building) in Don Buck Rd, Massey. Aimed at Parents & Caregivers, we want to provide insight into the context & issues being discussed by educators & internet saftey groups online that affect thier kids. With cyberbullying, extended use and oversharing being common parental concerns in our experience, we provide some eady to follow guides and outlines to assist parents ensure the security and saftey of thier home networks and explore education & school processes & issue resolution for online problems & the array of support & resources available to parents online & in the community.

Back in 2007, the Herald and other sources, indicated hope for us all in this "cyberspace wild west" from the NZ Police (such as this Stuff.co.nz article). They talked at the time even of thier collaborative efforts with organisations such as Netsafe to overcome the problem. The onlyElectronic Crime Strategy we can find is only valid until 2010 so we are unsure if there has been more from them on this one...

From what we have found however, the best stuff comes from the Australian Government & also ironically, fact sheets from Walmart.. The NZ Department of Internal Affairs also has a list of these global resources which can be found here

This really sums up the crux of it though, there is a real need for Digital Etiquette, not only from our kids, but us online... This lesson plan from the Australian Govt could also be used as a talking point for parents with older kids also.

What we need is a few more ideas like this RAK one to be pushed through schools & communities to restore a sense of collective community in our local areas..

Jess Maherjess@assistnz.comopposingthecopyrightinfringingfilesharingamendmentbill1https://sites.google.com/feeds/content/assistnz.com/hub/37656478819683431082011-04-12T07:16:46.501Z2011-04-12T07:18:18.260Z2011-04-12T07:18:18.234ZFacebook in the classroom? by Mary Di Mónaco

Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina

Sunday, 23 January 2011

Facebook in the classroom?

Quite a controversial topic these days. I had my qualms about using Facebook with my EFL students, mainly because of the privacy issues the network has been involved in. However, since one of my main objectives is to have my students use the language in a way that is meaningful to them so that they can continue learning outside the classroom walls, I had to give the issue a second thought. After all, is there such a thing as "online privacy"? I don't think so. The moment you click "send" anywhere on the web, the information is no longer yours alone and can, in most cases, be easily retrieved by any search engine. Try googling your name and you'll see what I mean.

So why am I using Facebook with my students?

Most of my students already have a Facebook account and use it on a daily basis as the main means of communication with their friends.

I've found that, while I have to coax them to interact in their blogs, wikis and other social platforms, they seem to feel at home on Facebook and communicate there naturally and spontaneously.

Since they are already there, this is a good opportunity to model approriate and safe internet behaviour. Although in my opinion "online privacy" is a contradiction in terms, I do believe "internet safety" is quite a different matter, and something we must endeavour to train our students in.

How am I using it?

I created a Facebook Group instead of a Page since that gives you greater control over who joins the group and what others can see.

Parents were consulted and the topic was discussed in a meeting (most of them gave us a dismissive nod - here in Argentina the use of Facebook is incredibly pervasive)

We post discussions on different platforms so those students who do not have a Facebook account do not feel left out or under pressure to create one, and are still able to communicate and interact with their peers.

What am I using it for?All the activities mentioned below are optional. Students are not forced to do them or marked on them. I somehow feel this would take away much of the fun.

Writing: students post short reviews of the songs they would like to work with in their f2f video classes.

Deciding what material they want to work with: polls are created with the students' suggestions and they have the opportunity to vote and have their say.

Crosscultural experiences: again, I post links to safe pages that foster interaction with peers from all over the globe.

Responding to visual and oral stimuli: I post what I consider interesting articles and videos to trigger discussion. Sometimes I get lucky and can see exchanges like the one below (these are screen captures since it is not possible to see them in the group if you are not a member)

These are just a few of the uses you can put Facebook to. And another good thing is that I don't even do half of the work. Most of what happens there isgeared by the students themselves. They upload material and interact of their own accord most of the time.

Note: this group is promoted only among teens and adults. In the case of kids, we work with blogs and wikis.

***************************
PLEASE INVITE ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS to
this event - PASS IT ON*****************************************************...Combined with a massive five stage production
of absolute state of the art high-end lighting, sound, av, lasers and
apparently a UFO and maybe even a dragon!... You can expect a show
produced like nothing else before it... We have a circus of over 30
performers & growing.. so far and a line up encompassing the finest
talents from the legends to the most contemporary.

This is all
only possible by a clear demonstration of love for our Christchurch
family that have got behind this project. I am deeply humbled. What
wonderful people that you are. Christchurch, we have your back.

PLEASE
NOTE: Due to the mind-boggling and deeply saddening events in Japan
this past few days there will be 1minutes silence over this entire
event. There will also be koha collection points to be donated to the
International Red Cross, towards Japan. Japan, you were here for us in
Christchurch, we are here for you now.

First release tickets will be $40 - LIMITED
NUMBERS -
Second release tickets TBC - - double that on gate.... and
just wait & see who the headliners are..... :)
Tickets will be
through http://www.iticket.co.nz/

ON
SALE FRIDAY.

Multiple genre live acoustic and electronic. Art
and performance concert for our brothers and sisters down in
Christchurch after the tragic 6.3 quake.

This event will be
produced to the highest level, with top entertainment and total
integrity. ALL PROCEEDS to go to Christchurch through Metro Law (to
ensure transparency) through to selected relief agencies.

Thank you Corporate Protection and
Security Services, who have offered their entire team to cover the
Auckland event, for free. www.cpss.co.nz

Thank
you http://www.splore.net/
who are donating all of their left over beverage stock from Splore City,
for sale & donation.
Thank you www.inkcoherent.co.nz
who will be running the after party for this event, with all profits
going to the cause.

Christchurch Concertchristchurch@assistnz.comuntitledpost-17https://sites.google.com/feeds/content/assistnz.com/hub/80993684969349502162011-03-31T09:59:06.914Z2011-03-31T10:43:44.265Z2011-03-31T10:43:44.263ZLearnings & Observations about social media from recent activity...

Using these tools regularly, it sometimes comes as a shock to me personally when I find out others are not aware of certain things that to others may seem to be obvious and often it is assumed that everyone else know that... As such, one of my learnings personally came to the use and knowledge of Facebook as a dashboard and service itself.

It appears not everyone is aware that the event details will be shortened at times and not fully appear unless you expand them.

AssistNZ was recently contacted in regards
to the promotion of the event “Christchurch Earthquake Benefit Concert”, which unfortunately
was ultimately cancelled. We would like to clarify that AssistNZ did not take
on the offered role of running a Twitter feed for the event, as this falls
outside the scope of the advisory and consultant services that AssistNZ offers.

One of our consultants did however agreed
to help out in a personal capacity, on a voluntary basis, and set up and ran a
Twitter feed about the event, as well as creating pages for the event on
MySpace, YouTube and Soundcloud.Good work Jess, see more here.

A substantial public response was received
over these channels, and they proved particularly useful for coordinating with
artists and performers. It was great to see how quickly people got the word out
and the enthusiasm with which artists contacted us with information, tracks to
add to playlists and all the other support that was received.

We would like to extend a huge thank you to
the sponsors and all of the many people who volunteered their time and efforts
to help on this project, and it is with great regret that we heard the news
from the promoters that the event had to be cancelled.

James Williamsonjames@assistnz.comchristchurchbenefitconcertcancelled4https://sites.google.com/feeds/content/assistnz.com/hub/68380179714989521802011-03-16T05:53:38.674Z2011-03-16T05:58:37.778Z2011-03-16T05:58:37.771ZPositivity in the latest Consumer Trends...

NetSafe is an independent non-profit organisation that promotes confident, safe, and responsible use of Cyberspace. They have established a number of initiatives, resources & websites, established to support the community through this digital revolution.

CYBERKIDS is aimed at young children, while the NETSAFE BASICS website is the more middle of the road site and the only one which could be considered as aiming for teenagers. HECTORS WORLDis a comprehensive school resource designed to foster digital citizenship and safe online behavior for 2 -9 year olds. INMYDAY is a support resource for parents & caregivers of children in New Zealand.

ECPAT Child Alert Line provides a service to report URLs that breach the child pornography laws and have established a project with the Department of Internal Affairs to try and minimise this activity online. (http://www.ecpat.org.nz/Projects/Internet-Digital-Filtering.aspx) They recognise the very real threats present when any user gets online... One of their projects developed focuses on the filters of digital content: "The expansion of the internet has led to many positive developments. However, it is evident that criminals, individuals as well as organised groups, are also using this technology as a means of producing, collecting and distributing images of child sexual abuse."

Jess Maherjess@assistnz.comprotectingteenagerskidsonlinewhosresponsible1https://sites.google.com/feeds/content/assistnz.com/hub/23518201115477839012011-02-09T03:02:36.565Z2011-02-09T03:06:25.737Z2011-02-09T03:06:25.719ZThe vast array of the many facets & faces of social media...

BK worker faces sack over private facebook use

Unite Union is appalled that a union member employed by fast-food company Burger King faces the sack for posting the words “Real jobs don’t underpay and overwork people like BK does” on a private page of Facebook.

In any research or review, particularly when such topics where
traditional & social medias are meeting, any influencing assumptions or
misconceptions about our context, conditions or comparisons can have all the
difference. We have stated these clearly before considering this legal,
contractual and ER issue involving social media.

Context: New Zealand

The NZ
Government have officially started to really enforce & encourage people, launching
iGovt early last year. It is now required when that to utilize these supported by govt, digital content strategies & community
initiatives all drive towards increasing our lives. But if they had to work,

A Democracy,
Prime Minister and the Governor General who are overarching & in simplistic
terms, governed by the Queen. We have a number of overarching pieces of
legislature which we are all governed by legislature such as Bill of Rights
Act, Human Rights Act & Treaty of Waitangi.

Social Norms: not in themselves a part of law but
its dynamics, impact & influence are fundamentally integrated and entwined.
Social Identity Theory, Bystander Apathy, Social Expectations all come into
play when it comes to how groups, communities and societies interact. (This
Springer series has extensive insights into these phenomum - http://www.spring.org.uk/2011/01/the-psychology-of-persuasion.php)

What can be drawn from that for
Employers, Collectives, Employees & all Kiwis

Online
behaviours are
in general covered by the same laws that relate to behaviour offline -
so
things like publication of information, entering into contracts or
harassment
are held to the same standards as if equivalent actions had been taken
offline,
even though many processes are far easier online, and can be done
between many
people at the same time. So for instance pressing "accept" on the
terms and conditions of a website is legally equivalent to signing a
contract
with the company owning the website, even though none of the formalities
are
present that would normally alert someone to the serious nature of
entering a
contract.

A large
proportion of
the information people generate online automatically becomes the
property of
the hosting company, under the terms and conditions they accepted when
they
signed up to the site. So every user has agreed to terms which amount to
a contractual
agreement to hand over copyright of all of this content to Facebook
automatically upon uploading it, with no remuneration required from
Facebook
other than the provision of the social networking service they offer.

New Zealand case
law has not dealt with issues involving Facebook posts on many occasions, but
overseas jurisdictions such as some US states, have held that even posts on “private”
areas of Facebook or MySpace can be considered public, because even though they
are made to a limited audience, they may remain viewable for long after they
are posted and could at any time be copied by anyone who can access as such.

“Whatever
you post will be viewed by the entire world“ (http://www.facebookbusinesshub.com/facebook-privacy/)
any posts realistically instantly become publically available, even if this is
not limited to the group originally invited to view or what they user has
mistaken for a “private audience”. This means that there is no reasonable
expectation of privacy for Facebook post messages potentially upheld even when
made in a private group, and therefore such posts are as public as a blog post.

Private/Public
nature of Context:Burger King vs Unite
case

However this principle has not been
established in a New Zealand court, and judges here have indicated that there
will be an as yet undefined line between which kinds of online speech can be
considered public or private. Online speech is, in general considered to be
public in nature. This is because placing information online means voluntarily
placing it into the control of third parties, who may have the right or ability
to copy and retain the information indefinitely, and uses it in whatever manner
they see fit, at a time that may be long after it was originally put online.

Different kinds of online expression may have
different levels of protection, depending on whether the person writing has a
reasonable expectation of privacy. For instances, for example, when a login in
is required to view, or others are in most cases considered to be a private
communication, which could not be viewed without a court order. However when
they relate to employment law matters, private messages on Facebook have been
held to be relevant to employment.

On the other hand, communication made via
public sites has been held to be public, in the Whaleoil blog post case (2010)
for instance the judge said that blog posts were as public as taking out a
newspaper advertisement, or printing out a pamphlet and putting it in your
neighbour’s mailbox. Posts on Facebook have been held to a similar level of
publicity.

Given this, in our opinion the question of
dismissal practises and fair warning should be the primary focus in any
discussions going forward.

Other previously established case precedents:

Police v Cameron Slater 2010(aka Whaleoil)|CRN 004028329 - 9833

In this case, the discussion
revolved around the publication of restricted information (which had been
suppressed by court order) intentionally on a blog post. Determined that all
material posted online that may be viewed by the public, can be considered to
have been published. It is also on record which remains online for a time
period which is not controlled by the person who posted it, and may be
permanent.

More details can be found at http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/

The case is important in New
Zealand for the following reasons and will if it goes the distance be discussed
for years at Law School as legal precedent:

a) it will examine the role of the
internet and technology in law. New Zealand law is relatively untested in this
area and again there are several aspects in Whaleoil's defence that he can use
to build an argument that I won't discuss here.

b) it will bring to a
head many of the issue currently up for debate around name suppression.

c) it will give the impeccable and
excellent lecturer Bill Hodge yet another excuse to suit up, show his
incredibly messy office and front on television explaining the law in his very
easy-speak to dummies.

http://asianinvasion2006.blogspot.com/2010/01/whaleoil-in-court.html

Wellington Free ambulance case (ER dispute)

Disputes between two employees
over Facebook outside of work hours was held to have been admissible when
considering if it had been appropriate to dismiss one of the parties involved
(Wellington Ambulance case, 2010).

Further Referenced or Referred to Articles & Blogs:

Jess Maherjess@assistnz.combkuniteunionemploymentdismissalsonlineactions3https://sites.google.com/feeds/content/assistnz.com/hub/4818740554223344112011-02-06T21:30:44.255Z2011-02-06T21:42:18.975Z2011-02-06T21:42:18.972ZBeing fired for actions online has a name - "Dooced"!

Mashable's article by Sharlyn Lauby (2009) uses the term “Dooced” which is an Internet expression that means to lose one’s job because of things one says online in her guide to social media policy. The first case in NZ Employment Courts involving social media which was heard early 2009, focused around employee infighting on facebook which had occurred largely outside of work hours. Demonstrating that regardless of weather a business adopts for banning of internal use of social media or not, businesses today can not get away from social media. Their employees are using it, in most markets their customers are using it and now, you are require to use them in order to fulfill the requirements for compliance. With igovt launched a several weeks ago, since in order to contact public departments such as IRD, businesses and individuals alike, will now be required to register a profile on the Government's network.

This is an ongoing and continuing issue we are increasingly seeing evidence of in a broad level. Really the questions and debate about this topic should be base at a more fundamental level-

Short term profits and acting with the best intersets of the share holders has been empowering corporations like Burger King for years, social media just allows us to share our stories.. but the time has come where multinational brands and governments alike need to really consider what this means, as do each of us... after all us "users" are the only empowering and powerful resource sites like Facebook have and we don't even seem to be awre we are signing away our rights as soon as we sign up!

"When passion, purpose and skill intersect you find the ultimate career sweet spot that makes it easy to commit yourself to success. The hours it takes to job search for the right job or to build your business are for a bigger reason. Your personal branding statement flows easier because it has greater meaning.

Have you found your ultimate career sweet spot? What is your purpose? Which skills of yours align with your purpose? What are you passionate about? How does your passion fit with your job search?"

Jess Maherjess@assistnz.comtheimportanceofpurposeandpassion1https://sites.google.com/feeds/content/assistnz.com/hub/38338253241016364522011-01-10T15:05:13.476Z2011-01-31T15:29:25.269Z2011-01-31T15:29:25.268ZWhat happens in the land of Facebook when one passes away...

Ms. Chin says Facebook now recognizes the importance of finding an appropriate way to preserve those pages as a place where the mourning process can be shared online.

James E. Katz, a professor of communications at Rutgers University, said the company was experiencing “a coming-of-age problem.”

“So many of Facebook’s early users were young, and death was rare and unduly tragic,” Mr. Katz said.

Google Notebook provides a service, much like that of Microsoft Onenote, where by one can collate and store relevant and related "notes" and references/links found online.

These can be demostrated by Jess' past & ongoing notebooks, largely compiled during her dissertation research process, the following headers provide some insight into the content & topic of each notebook as follows:

Jess Maherjess@assistnz.comfacebooku-turnsondatasharing1https://sites.google.com/feeds/content/assistnz.com/hub/84593724575130596302011-01-10T20:59:54.705Z2011-01-13T07:55:18.616Z2011-01-13T07:55:18.613ZWhat does 2011 seem to have in store for us all, particularly those of us still stuck in the world of Social Media

Blog writing tips for the start of 2011...

Brain Clark posted this one; 5 Simple Ways to Open Your Blog Post With a Bang.

how-to-get-your-blog-noticed-and-promoted-by-super influencers

Review every single blog post written to get a sense of their voice. This helps when writing a blog post that fits their editorial voice.

Understand which topics your influencer enjoys talking about. Hook into their passion and think about ways you can add value to their content.

Find the hole that your influencer needs to fill to round out their message. Remember that your influencer wants to offer a complete experience to their tribe. Help them add the spice that keeps their audience interested and coming back for more.

Attend Every Concert:

Consider attending a conference where your influencer will be speaking. If you can’t attend, follow the conference via the #hashtag or do a search on Slideshare.net for the actual presentation. Re-tweet specific insights liberally.

Register and listen-in on webinars. Here’s a secret – actually ask questions. Don’t be obnoxious – just make sure you don’t melt into the crowd.

Join Forums to possibly get some one-on-one interaction. I’m a member of Third Tribe and find that it’s a great way to connect with the movers-and-shakers. Look for similar opportunities in your niche.

Recruit other Fans

Twitter is my favorite way to get my followers excited about a new post or product offered by the influencers in my specialty. Strive to add a bit of commentary before your RT to make it stand-out.

Blog Comments – A well thought-out blog comment will go along way to separating you from the crowd. Take the time to offer a comment that allows the writer the chance to expand on their post. Referencing another post in their blog is also a nice touch.

Finally for now, this last blog post actually adopts a slightly different vein... but it appears that the world is many close to approaching what we require them to have understood before we cab introduce the concept of the required revolutionary reform which is expected,,,

We are also continuing to see evidence of the benefits & changes of social media on daily life and normal main stream society... This cartoon from Anti-Social Media blog demonstrates how this kind of change is continuing to surprise and be received in an unexpected fashions had anyone taken the time to consider the implications 10 years on... does that mean we should make the same mistakes?? Looking at alternatives to the existing business model norms, there is plenty of information available to those who would otherwise not be able to conceptualize the possibilities of setting up a business http://steveblank.com/2010/10/25/entrepreneurship-as-a-science-%E2%80%93-the-business-modelcustomer-development-stack/

Real Change Jobs is another newer release from some clever Kiwis, At realchangejobs you’ll discover career opportunities that have the potential to change the world. These are not your everyday jobs – but careers with a cause, incorporating socially responsible and ethical work.

Many New Zealanders want a job that makes a positive contribution to society; a job that makes them feel good about what they do. But it’s often difficult to find this type of work. That’s why we developed realchangejobs – a social enterprise and a central, niche job-site for people who want to make a real difference. http://www.realchangejobs.co.nz/news/

Jess Maherjess@assistnz.comwhatdoes2011seemtohaveinstoreforusallparticularlythoseofusstillstuckintheworldofsocialmedia3https://sites.google.com/feeds/content/assistnz.com/hub/36991355864336643112011-01-13T06:37:57.439Z2011-01-13T07:51:59.601Z2011-01-13T07:51:59.597ZSocial Media as a Risk?

I wish I had knew more about this topic earlier- my Dad passed away two months ago, as an avid social media user himself he and I actually had a conversation about what he would want to happen to his "online pressence" in the envent that something did hypothetically happen, he simply said (his sudden death and sense of humor make me feel this must be quoted word for word) "I don't care, I would be dead. What would be important is what you guys would want to do with it! Seeing as your Mum still refuses to join Facebook, like she did once upon a time with Internet Banking too if you remember carefully, it would be up to you."

I immediately when I heard of his death, wanted to protect and save all my correspondence, messages and words from him online but ignorantly also thought it was best to request the page to be memorialised immediately as his high profile image may invite unwelcome activities I thought... I wish I hadn't... the more I look at death & social media & ownership & digital rights, the more it makes me aware we need some better answers before the "digital natives" are anywhere near old enough to worry about the kind of things I have been struggling with trying to keep, claim or save anything of someones life online...

SOME BLOGS & REPORTS THAT HAVE RECENTLY ENLIGHTENED ME & MADE ME CONSIDER MY OWN SOCIAL MEDIA USE & KNOWLEDGE INCLUDE...

Attacks on Social Networks Increase By 70 Percent

A survey finds that 60 percent of executives view Facebook as a security threat. Meanwhile, experts see LinkedIn as a particular area of vulnerability.

Unintended Consequences: How to Keep Social Media from Becoming a Security Risk

Social media is a major boon for business -- it helps you connect with customers, report on outages, and even brag about accomplishments. But social media can also expose your plans and aid the competition.

All this comes under the heading of what Manes calls "inference analysis," the science of assembling pieces of information to see what can be learned. His company uses inference analysis to discover what sensitive information his clients are sharing online, and he says criminals are out there doing the same thing.

Sophos Security Threat Report: 2010

Furthermore, over 72% of firms believe that employees’ behavior on social networking sites could endanger their business’s security. This has increased from 66% in the previous study. The number of businesses that were targets for spam, phishing and malware via social networking sites increased dramatically, with spam showing the sharpest rise from 33.4% in April to 57% in December. This highlights a surge in exploitation of such sites by spammers2.

No small businesses actually made the Top 20 – could it be because 56 percent of small businesses don't even have a
privacy policy on their Web sites? – but the Ponemon results still
provide a useful lesson. Facebook, for example,
made the list last year but not the current one – which comes as no
surprise, as 2009 saw the site face serious security breaches as well as
a very public debate about their privacy policies.

In addition to having shaky privacy policies
among small businesses with Web sites, security on small business sites
may be an issue as well: the survey reports that 21 percent of small
businesses don't know if they have encrypted pages on their web site,
and 30 percent admitted that they didn't know if they were PCI
compliant. This lack of knowledge invites privacy lapses and security
breaches that could lead to a consumer's information being stolen or
abused. Furthermore, it suggests a critical need for steps to ensure the
Web site is a trustworthy landing point so that small businesses may
conduct business safely and their customers have the best, safest
experience possible.

Consumer discomfort online can be a huge pain
point in online sales, according to recent research:

Thirty-six percent of consumers claimed they
would not use their credit or debit card to make a purchase with a Web
merchant they didn't know. (Ponemon Institute, 2007)

While merchants anecdotally report that
approximately 20-30 percent of online shopping carts are abandoned,
research conducted by Marketing Sherpa actually found a 58 percent
average abandonment rate.

These statistics indicate a critical need for
companies to demonstrate compliance with privacy best practices to gain
consumer trust. Although privacy may often be overlooked by small
businesses, it is essential to a company's success in an anemic economic
climate.

For more information on privacy for small businesses
and to take an online quiz, go to
www.truste.com/about/privacy_policy_quiz.html

How to Back Up Your Social Media Accounts

What would happen if you lost all of the data you share
on social networks? Here's why, and how you should back up your favorite
social tools.

Imagine if your Facebook account
were suspended and deleted. What would you do if your entire LinkedIn
network suddenly disappeared? If your Flickr
photos were no longer accessible or if Twitter
crashed yet again, only this time for good?

Online networking
and collaboration have become a dominant part of our daily routines.
According to a recent study conducted by Nielsen and released in early
August, social networking occupies twice as much of our time online as
any other activity. Facebook and Twitter alone account for 22.7% of our
time on the web, with online games and e-mail a distant second and
third, respectively.

We offer two main different types of workshops, those aimed at either the individual or organisational level (focusing on Online Reputation Management, Professional & Freelance Networking & Employment Opportunities Online and iGovt & what it means for you?). Beyond this we do also offer one on one customized support and training as well as consultation in business development, employment relations and legal support services, particularly with relevance to social & new medias & other arenas of the ICT industry. .

Individual Level Introductory Workshops cover...

this individual level workshop is focusing on online reputation management for individuals in the community, which is actuality is a discussion about developing and nurturing a personal brand awareness & perception for ones self.

Whether you work for a company, or you’re an entrepreneur, you have a personal brand and need to manage it to have a successful future.

4 steps to building a personal brand:

Discover: Understand who you are, what you’re passionate about and have expertise in, and then how you want to position yourself in the marketplace. Also, setting up short and long-term measurable goals.

Create: Develop a personal branding toolkit that helps sell your brand. This might include a business card, a website or a blog, social network profiles, a resume, cover letter, references document, and a portfolio of work. You also need a consistent name, picture, format, and possibly a slogan.

Communicate: Networking with people in your community constantly, both online and offline, to further the relationships. Becoming an expert source for the media, and speaking at events.

Apparently, workers at the Department of Labour favor playing ilicitly downloaded shooter games like Doom & Halo, much more than they do the work the department gives out to them... Can you blame them though? Whether your game of chose be Halo like these guys or be it another game like Quake, if your boss was not reprimanding you, or even better if they were playing alongside you, wouldn't you make the same choice?

Jess Maherjess@assistnz.comtimewastingtheinstancesissuesofbeingonlineemployees2https://sites.google.com/feeds/content/assistnz.com/hub/1967106235316474492011-01-04T21:02:21.942Z2011-01-09T23:42:41.334Z2011-01-09T23:42:41.332ZWhen we die in life, do we want to our social media lives to be deleted online?

It is surreal to think, considering the context and reality of where we now find ourselves in this day and age, that just a week before he died, Grahame Maher had a conversation with us about this hotly debated and discussed issue in the social media world.. what happens to your life online when one dies? When there is no clear anwser or understanding of who owns what information or data online, these kind of questions will continue to be difficult, unclear and confusing.

Facebook has a process in place to handle the death of one of its users, there are two options presented to those loved ones of any users death, memorizalising the account or deleting the profile & pressence outright. If one is to memorize the account profile the person no longer appears in search results or feeds otherwise usually included on the site, which raises the concern that once an account has been memorialised, there are no other options or rights really afforded to those left behind, espically if the connection or confirmation is not yet confirmed. This raises the issue that if, for example, a parent signed up to Facebook on the death of thier child, they would still not be able to find or locate them on this medium.

The morning process is complicated and in her podcasts ; shock, denial, negotiation, angry, depression and then finally acceptance. Healthy morning processes can take anytime between six months and a year, in this case this may help them to deal with these stages. Whatever you don't express then we inact, when we talk about issues then we are able to learn and grow from them. Being able to read or being able to write about them, it is to some extent healthier than keeping it to yourself. Virtual pressence is not absolute, there maybe an expectation or tension between how we are using these medias to cope or if we are holding in this denial.

And in recent times, there has been so much discussion of this kind of thing that the immergence of websites such as Legacy Locker, provide an indication into the ongoing importance from the mainstream in the social media world. The fact that there is never going to be a solution that solves everyone in any situation.. may make you recongiser the difficulty for this is this moment.

"The social networks have a problem, in the case of a member dying, they need to satisfy both the wishes of the next of kin and family, and those of their friends on the network. Frankly, this is no-win situation for the site. People grieve in different ways, some people will want the person’s profile taken down, others will want it to stay up, forever. If a profile stays up, is that good or bad? Do people want a constant reminder of the loss of a loved one? Their profile and comments will always look fresh, keep up to date with the latest site design, their profile picture never ages. Will this prevent us from properly moving on and coping with the death of a loved one?" (Paul Silver, 2008, retrieved from http://www.paulsilver.co.uk/blog/2008/10/death-and-social-media/)

These kind of questions and discussions around your information, records & rights in death of a users on any given social networking sites need to be addressed...

of the permenant importance to the avaliability & access to an individual profile and each person differs in what they consider to be the appointed & approate choses.

The Legacy Locker site contains this discussions, suggesting that its individual that will determine what it is about what we each think is best when it comes to our digital rights has been demonstrated. Legacy Locker has actually recieved considerable amont of media attention aleady, including thier statements such as:

Online Assets Have Value

Do you have an email account? Or two? Or three? Do you buy or sell stuff with eBay, Amazon, PayPal, Yahoo! Stores, or elsewhere? Do you blog, or use Twitter, or put up videos on YouTube? Do you share or backup photos with Flickr, Photobucket, Snapfish, Kodak Gallery, or Shutterfly? Do you maintain your identity at LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, or Plaxo? Do you have credits in the iTunes store, or at PartyPoker.com?

Think about all the time you spend online these days, and how important and valuable these sites and services are to you and your family. It's not fun to think about, but the reality is in the event of your death most of these companies and services have no provision for passing your account onto your loved ones (even a will doesn't help!). Legacy Locker is the best way to guarantee access to your online accounts for all of the people you think should receive them, be it a spouse, child, friend or colleague.

"Families are starting to learn that there's no easy solution for accessing online communication channels used by deceased loved ones.

"Email addresses for contacts that would like to be notified of a death, family photos that family members would like to export from online accounts and balances of cash sitting unclaimed in online services like PayPal or eBay are just a few examples of the kinds of assets that are all too often lost upon a death." - Marshall Kirkpatrick, ReadWriteWeb

Co-Working and these meet ups termed "Jelly"s have been the craze for a while now in the states.. with so many small businesses in NZ (reportedly almost 70% of us are micro-businesses, or in other words businesses whom do not employ anyone else) it is a wonder they haven't had more popularity before now...

In fact these guys from AltSpace have hit the nail on the head... they state:

"AltSpace was set up exactly like the sort of place we were looking for and could not find. We wanted an office environment where you could move in and be up running in a few minutes, with excellent shared facilities that do not incur a host of petty charges. With the knowledge that the owners were in the business of providing the best coworking space available, and not just subleasing redundant office space."

Surely this is something other "westie" entrepreneurs are looking for?? It is defiantly something I am moving to progress forward and try and achieve... If any one is interested or has any input, please contact email@assistnz.com